turning my pool around, I hope

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pamom

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Jun 11, 2010
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When we opened our pool this year there was all kind of leaves that fell in off the cover. I mean alot! We had alot of rain here which prevented us from getting started on cleaning this thing up. Before I knew about this site I took my water to the pool store and they had me add stablizer and lo n so. I have been using 4 bags of store bought shock every night, desolving it before I add it to the pool. I will admit i have not vacumed the pool everyday. My water has turned from black to a murkey pale white/green. My numbers when I test are cl .05 ph 7.8 hardness 160 and alkaline 160. my cya is undetectable. I was wondering if I am on the right track? should I convert to using bleach to "shock" my pool and if so how much bleach would i need and to what cl level do I need?
Thanks for taking time to read this.
 
Welcome to TFP!

Richard is right about needing a test kit. A good test kit is the single most important thing that you can have when running a pool. It should be a drop-based, comprehensive kit that tests for FC, CC, TA, pH, CH, and CYA. To help solve your problem, we need numbers for all of those values. Pool stores can run tests for you and their results are frequently suspect. They want to sell you chemicals.

I would suggest reading Pool School, if you haven't already started. The big button on the top right of each page will take you there.

When you say that your CYA is undetectable, is this what you were told or is this what your test kit gave you? My suspicion is that you have too much CYA. But you could also have none. Depends on the testing method.

As for using bleach, most on here believe that this is the best thing to do year round and not only just for shocking. It only adds things that you need to keep your pool clean and adds nothing extra. This is a good way to go.
 
I am using the hth 6 way test kit I purchased from walmart. These are the numbers I got when I tested today. Maybe I am doing the test wrong. the hardness and alkaline ares the ones where you drop test till color changes. the numbers I got from the pool store last week were cya 0 tot chloring 0.2 free chloine 0 ph 8.8 tot alkalinit 72 tot harness 193 and extensive green algae. that was before I added anything to the pool. Are my numbers off? Am I testing wrong/
 
Let me see if I can summarize:

Last Week (Pool Store)
FC: 0
TC: .2
CC: .2
pH: 8.8
TA: 72
CH: 193
CYA: 0

Recent: (Home Test)
FC: 0
TC: .5 ?
CC: .5 ?
pH: 7.8
TA: 160
CH: 160
CYA: ?

How much stabalizer did the pool store have you put in? It can take awhile for it to register. But we should be able to ball park it by knowing how much was put in.

We will then know how much bleach to add to take you to shock.

Also, you are going to want to drop your pH to about 7.2, so you will want to get some muratic acid if you don't have any.

Your other numbers can be tweaked after you get your new test kit. :)
 
I have added 11.5 lbs of balance pak 100 and 3.5 of Lo n Slo. I want to change over to bleach today but I dont know how muchto use. I can't seem to find what level my chlorine need to be to shock. Is it 12?
 
Balance Pak 100 will increase your alkalinity.
Lo n Slo will decrease your pH.

Is that all you added?

If so, you did not add anything to increase your CYA (stabalizer).

And do you know how many gallons your pool is?
 
OK... I just want to make sure, because you originally said: " I took my water to the pool store and they had me add stablizer and lo n so."

Assuming that you have not added any, you will want to add about 3 lbs of solid stabalizer, or about a gallon of liquid.

When you go to the pool store, have them test your water again for CYA (stabalizer) just to make sure. If you over-add it, you can't get it out without a partial drain of your pool.

You can now bring your water up to the shock level: 12. That will be about 2 gallons of 6% bleach. Keep testing and adding bleach to stay at 12 until you do not loose any chlorine over night. Then let your chlorine drop to about 4.
 
Note the chlorine will only kill the algae, you still need to remove what remains from the pool through filtration, having a sand filter means you will need to backwash it often. Also remember that 2 gallons of bleach is just to get it to shock level, based on your description of the water I suspect it will take another 6-8 gallons before you finish the shock process. Expect to be adding bleach every hour or two in the beginning to keep the FC level up to 12 or higher while you shock, as you get closer to finishing you will need to add bleach less and less often until it holds with less than a 1 ppm drop overnight (after dark to before sunrise)

Ike
 

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i have around the size pool as you. i can tell u how to fix it. every year when i open my pool i have tones of leaves.
alo your on he right track, with your water being a pale whie color.

Step 1. get a leaf net (long net) and for a couple days slowly try to remove as much debri as possible.
step 2. got to your pool store and buy a bottle of Chlorine Stabalizer (aka Cyanuric Acid) also buy ONE gallon of liquid shock
(your getting the one gallon so you will have dirctions for the amount of shock you will need for your pool)
(the amount the shock bottle says to use, use double that in regular 6% bleach)(liquid shock 12% clorox6%)

step 3. test your pool water and adjust your alk. and ph.... (alk should be 80-110) (make sure your ph is 7.8 or higher for STEP 6)

step 4. put in the reccomended dose of chlor. stab. (never add too much of any chemical)

step 5. add the reccomended amount of shock (regular clorox). the next day test all of your chemicals. if your chlorine is still high then dont worry about adding more until it get around 2 ppm free chlorine. (I KEEP my free chlorine level btwn 2 and 5) you do not want any combined chlor. in your pool. try to keep that low.

Step 6. now you need to go buy a bottle of Pool Flock. This chemical gathers all the particles in your pool and brings them to the bottom. your ph must be 7.8 or higher for the product to work correctly. all of the debre settles to the bottom after you shut your pump off. follow direcions and dosage on the pool flock bottle.

step 7. you will wake up to a clear pool with a dirty bottom. SLOWLY VACUME TO WASTE all of the material that is on the bottom. adding water when needed. take your time on this part because this determines how clear your pools gonna be.

Step 8. Backwash everytime your vacume.

step 9. once youve cleared the bottom take a pool brush and scrape all of the walls and bottome.

Step 10. add a product called pool clarifier. this will gather particles too small for your filter to pick up and it sticks them together so your filter CAN pick them up

Step 11. leave your pool running for a couple dya and backwash the first two days after you add the clarifier.

Now you should have a clear pool.. It works for me Evey Time!!! any questions im always on here.
 
I would suggest that you take things one step at a time:

Get your stabalizer in (CYA)
Get your chlorine level to shock level (12ppm) with about 2 gallons of 6% bleach and keep it there.
Try to maintain a pH of 7.2 or so during the shocking process.

Adjustments to TA and additions of flock and clarifier and what not can be tackled as needed.

Just my opinion.
 
thank you everyone for the help. I jus got back from the pool store and they told me they did not recomend adding stabilizer because i added it last year and it probably not showing up because of the contaminates in the water.
here are my numbers they gave me today:
cya 0
tot cholorine .3
free chlorine 0
ph 8.2
tot alkalinity 105
tot hardness 230
green algae slight
 
pamom said:
they did not recomend adding stabilizer because i added it last year and it probably not showing up because of the contaminates in the water.
Click to expand...

That is utter nonsense. :rant: Where do they get this stuff! :roll:

1. Lower your PH with acid (preferably Muratic Acid but if you have the dry already use that). Target 7.4. Use the Pool calculator to figure out how much acid to add. Do this ASAP and BEFORE you do anything else.

2. Add CYA. Again, use the Pool Calc and figure out how much stabilizer you need to get you to 30ppm. Use the "sock method" to add the CYA - do not add directly to the pool or the skimmer.

3. Shock your pool with liquid chlorine a.k.a. bleach. Use the pool calculator to figure out how much liquid chlorine to add to reach a shock level of 12ppm.

Read and follow the steps in:
Defeating Algae

Shocking Your Pool

You are going to need to purchase one of the recommended test kits if you want to take control of your pool.
Test Kit Comparison
 
Absolutely right.

There is bacteria that may convert CYA to amonnia. But there are no contanimates that I have ever heard of that would cause a CYA a false zero reading for CYA.

The only point of clarification I might add to what frustratedpoolmom said would be to get the bleach started around the same time as the CYA... if not a few minutes before.

It's more superstition then hard knowledge... but when there is a suspected CYA to ammonia conversion, I like to get a little bleach on top of whatever bacteria may have caused the conversion before adding more food (CYA) to it.
 
One note here one of the better tests for CYA levels is a turbidity test, where you mix a given amount of water with a given amount of reagent. The result is cloudy water that you measure by seeing how deep into a tube you can see a black dot on the bottom. If your water was already extremely cloudy it could give a false high CYA reading.

Ike
 
My water is now a beautiful cloudy blue. I have been trying to keep the water at shock level but it is hard to tell when my only test kit i have right now does not registar past 5. any ideas how how to judge this. I am making such good progress turning my swamp back to an oasis.
 
You could dillute your water x3 with unchlorinated (e.g. distilled) water, and shoot for a reading of 4.

How's your pH looking? Did you get any stabalizer started?
 
I did not start any stabilizer as yet. Do you think I should even though I started this pool and last year I added the recomended amounts and only drained to below the skimmer basket for winter? I know it is not showing up on my test though.
 

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